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9.30.2009

It's probably more my fault than anything that this blog has pretty much died. I've had a shortage of time, ambition, and things to say. That's pretty much a recipe for sheer doom.

So if anyone actually reads this: I'm sorry.

As for where to go now...you know where, two paragraphs ago, I said that I've had a shortage of things to say? Well, that's really not true at all. It's more been a shortage of things that I know how to say, or things that I think people would be interested in hearing.

I've decided, at least for the time being, that I don't really care about what people care about hearing or what I know how to say. So, I'm going to say a little bit about a lot of things that are on my mind. Everyone say it with me! It's gallimaufrytime!

1. War/Non-violenceEarlier this year I posted about pacifism and took it down shortly thereafter. Since then, I've had several debates on the topic, each one ending without anyone really changing their mind at all. Only once have I had someone actually agree with me. Suffice it to say this is a controversial topic.

For now, just to give people a little to ruminate on, I'm just going to quote early Church fathers. I realize this is not scripture, but I think it will help stimulate some conversation and help people realize that pacifism isn't such a strange doctrine for a Christian to hold.

"We ourselves were well conversant with war, murder, and everything evil, but all of us throughout the whole wide earth have traded in our weapons of war."-- Justin Martyr

"A soldier of the civil authority must be taught not to kill men and to refuse to do so if he is commanded, and to refuse to take an oath. If he is unwilling to comply, he must be rejected for baptism. A military commander or civic magistrate who wears the purple must resign or be rejected. If an applicant or a believer seeks to become a soldier, he must be rejected, for he has despised God."-- Hippolytos

"The Church is an army of peace that sheds no blood."-- Clement of Alexandria

"You cannot demand military service of Christians any more than you can of priests. We do not go forth as soldiers."-- Origen"When individuals commit homicide, it is a crime; it is called a virtue when done in the name of the state."-- Cyprian

It is only when the idea of the church and state become blended with Constantine that the church ceases to be revolutionary and starts to promote the theory of "just war."

Moving on.

2. Music

I could talk about music for about 4 hours before listing an artist that most people have heard before. However, I honestly hate the typical indie snob. I also dislike people who think that Jason Mraz is indie and underground after being played nonstop on the radio for 6 months, but that's a different story.

To keep this relatively short, I'll list a couple of fairly "normal" artists I've been listening to lately and enjoying quite a lot.

I know Matt said that he though the lead single was a little forced in its political references, but Muse has always trended libertarian/anarchistic, and most of their albums are full of these kind of references. Also, most of the other songs on this album aren't so upfront. I like their other stuff a lot, hence I like this album a lot. It's legit.

This is a shoegaze band, which, according to Wikipedia, means music "typified by significant use of guitar effects, and indistinguishable vocal melodies that blended into the creative noise of the guitars." All I know is that it's awesome.

Please oh please get this album. Get all three of his albums. This is the all-American success story of the year, I think. I've found two bands before they blew up, so to speak: Vampire Weekend, and now Owl City. Pretty much everyone at this college has now heard of this guy, even though he was virtually unknown when I found out about him early this spring. Oh, and the reason I said it was such a success story is the fact that he only started making music to pass the time he couldn’t sleep due to his insomnia.

3. I'm out of time.

This wasn't really a gallimaufry, but I have to leave now to go to dinner. I figure I'll post this before I leave and never get around to it. Here's to hoping that I actually post more often! Cheers!

9.15.2009

Well, in my indefensible defense, I haven't really had the stimulation or direction to blog lately. I'm honestly not sure what to do with this blog. Should I go more personal or keep occasionally posting my thoughts about politics and philosophy and all that jazz? I'm not quite sure yet. What is the point to even having a blog now that I can connect with friends via Facebook and Twitter and other outlets?

Originally I began blogging because I am a writer. Or, at least, I fancy myself a writer. I'm also a geek, so naturally when blogs came along I jumped on that bandwagon just as quickly as I could. But now I see how much of a comittment is needed to keep it up. And even if I did blog consistantly and well (a huge, improbable assumption) who would read it?

I'm not sure any of these questions really need to be answered. It would be nice though. Lots of things that will never happen would be nice.

I am utterly sick of the whole political angle right now, so I shall go personal with this post.

I am currently in my sophomore year in college. I am in college primarily to get a degree because apparently that's important for getting a job in this world. If I happen to get an education at the same time then so be it. My major right now is "Digital Cinema." The goal, the dream is to be a filmmaker, but every day that seems more and more unlikely not because I don't think I could do it, but because the world seems intent on falling apart just about the time my life will actually become interesting. But I told myself this wouldn't be a political post so I'll restrain myself from saying any more on that subject.

I just finished up doing a big video project which I think is best described as Jason Reitman meets the Office meets David Chapelle's Block Party meets Soulja Boy. Okay, that is a wildly inaccurate description, but didn't it sound amazing?

In the past I've deliberately kept this blog and my other website separate because they're so different in tone. It seemed odd that I had this, a somewhat serious blog where I have tried occasionally to be intellectual and also my hobbist video website on which I had some pretty ameturish and silly videos. It somehow made sense to put those different fascits of my personality into separate boxes. But for the curious, the website is tennineteenproductions.com. I'll try not to mention it too often because I don't want to cross-promote two wildly different things.

That's all I've got for now. I'll try to blog more as the stimulation comes. 140 characters on Twitter just doesn't cut it.